Dirty River

(Source: floccinaucinihilipification)

explore-blog:

So you know, how much sunshine different regions of Europe get per year.

cartographymaps:

John Tallis, 1851, Overland Route to India

hiyah-beijing:

instinctivepath:

Fascinating map of the distribution of language in the Iberian Peninsula.

O.O

archimaps:

Map of the city of Jerusalem in 1915

andrewfm:

Here are three maps depicting the “Advertising and Street Trade Restrictions venue restriction zone” to be set up in London during the 2012 Olympic Games. From Kosmograd:

Within this area… no advertising for brands designated as competing with those of the official Olympic sponsors will be allowed. This will be supported by preventing spectators from wearing clothing prominently displaying competing brands, or from entering the exclusion zone with unofficial snack and beverage choices. Within the Zone, the world’s biggest McDonald’s will be the only branded food outlet, and Visa will be the only payment card accepted.

The increased presence of the security state in England here dovetails with business influence to carve out a new corporate geography for the purposes of marketing. This spatial strategy is a neoliberal twist on the historic creation of colonial states administrated by businesses (consider the historic case of Rhodesia). Of course, police measures designed to restrict one form of personal expression can also just as easily restrict others, so it would hardly be surprising to see anti-corporate clothing forbidden in a similar manner to wearing the wrong brand’s clothing. Nevertheless, it seems to be an ironic twist that wearing corporate, rather than political, imagery and messaging is the expressly forbidden and subversive act within these exclusion zones.

It is through this neocolonialism at the urban scale that we see, utterly exposed, the political nature of economic practice. Corporations compete for spatial monopolies through reconfigured property arrangements, both with and without the help of the state, with purportedly fundamental liberal rights trampled on in the process.

theersatzvegetarian:

Boston’s Footprint

The dark areas of this map show built-up areas with blank areas for water, parks, streets, etc. Pretty. Here’s what Bostonography has to say about it:

Besides being inconsequential eye candy, though, the map is somewhat useful for interpreting urban geography. Some manmade patterns are much clearer in this map than in an aerial photograph you’d find on Google Maps or elsewhere, which shows all this and more. Assuming some base level of local knowledge (say, where the ocean is), it’s possible to identify various spaces: built-up (gray) versus open (blank) areas, downtown (large, dense footprints) versus residential (smaller, separated footprints) areas, steetcar suburbs (long main drags with density dropping a block or two away) versus more interior urban areas (consistent density and often smaller, straighter blocks), and so on.

Click on the pic for a gi-normous version.

transitmaps:

Hey, everyone! I’m thrilled to be able to share some news with you that I just heard about! My U.S. Highways as Subway Map has been accepted for inclusion in the inaugural edition of the NACIS Atlas of Design. There were 150 entries, and only 27 maps - all by different creators - have been accepted, so you can see why I’m excited about this!

The Atlas itself promises to be superb, as evidenced by this excerpt from the project website:

The Atlas will feature a gallery of full-color maps showcasing cartography at its most beautiful, its cleverest, its sharpest, and its most intriguing. But it will be more than a museum of images; each map will be accompanied by thoughtful commentary that guides the reader toward a deeper understanding of the work: its inspiration and message, the ways it means to influence us. It is well to look upon something beautiful and good, but once we understand how it is beautiful and good, our experience becomes much richer. For those of us who make maps, we can carry those lessons into our own work and advance the craft of cartography. Even if you don’t make maps, it’s a chance to gain insight into what mapmakers really do, and to see how it’s about more than just pushing city dots and rivers around. Everyday objects become much more significant when we see what is behind their creation.

I can’t wait to see the other maps! For those of you unfamiliar with my work, here’s a link to the map’s project page on my personal website, as well as a link to a big (4000px wide!) version of the map on Flickr - the best way to appreciate all the fine detail.

usclibraries:

Los Angeles Examiner illustration showing the path of a total eclipse that darkened Southern California skies on September 10, 1923.

paristofrance:

French wine is component of a tradition that links nearby wines to nearby foods. French wine, like all European wine is intended to be consumed with food. All the grapes that are very best identified to us, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Merlot and so on. are all normal grapes in France. These grape varieties are the ones that have created their way with most good results to wine regions all over the globe

paulbeige:

Oceania, Political and Communications.

Collins Australian Clear School Atlas, 1964.

Love the colours on this.

(Source: awhalesonginthedeep)

fractalwatch:

Map of the U.S. by city influence

Érik Desmazières: La Salle des planètes, from his series of illustrations for Jorge Luis Borges’s story ‘The Library of Babel,’ 1997–2001.